You Be the Coder: Check Your Modifiers for Shoulder Scopes

- Published on Wed, Sep 01, 2010

Question:

An orthopedist in my practice arthroscopically repaired a rotator cuff on the left shoulder, and then aspirated the right shoulder. I used the LT and RT modifiers, of course, to indicate the doctor worked on different sites, but the insurer denied the claim anyway. How can I get reimbursement for the two separate procedures?

Although the LT and RT modifiers indicate that your orthopedist treated different shoulders, modifier 59 definitively shows that the two procedures were separate in this case. Typically, 29827 includes the work associated with an aspiration. In this [...]